Gardening: (2016– )

[rotuts]

@kayb 

 

I am enjoying the pics of your garden

 

i enjoyed gardening years ago and discovered early on

 

Black Plastic 

 

and Reemay , woven fiber 

 

I hope you are aware of it :

 

https://cedarcirclefarm.org/tips/entry/geotextiles

 

and example from Google search

 

ite extended my growing at leasts a month in each direction

 

here in NewEnglansd.

 

and you can use it over and over again

 

it it light , and I used to lay it over the growing plants

 

and it did not bother them.  rain passes right through

 

I forgot what my supplier was , but its not expensive if you get it

 

from a very large garden supplier.

 

and can be used for years.

 

 

[kayb]

On 4/2/2021 at 12:03 PM, rotuts said:

@kayb 

 

I am enjoying the pics of your garden

 

i enjoyed gardening years ago and discovered early on

 

Black Plastic 

 

and Reemay , woven fiber 

 

I hope you are aware of it :

 

https://cedarcirclefarm.org/tips/entry/geotextiles

 

and example from Google search

 

ite extended my growing at leasts a month in each direction

 

here in NewEnglansd.

 

and you can use it over and over again

 

it it light , and I used to lay it over the growing plants

 

and it did not bother them.  rain passes right through

 

I forgot what my supplier was , but its not expensive if you get it

 

from a very large garden supplier.

 

and can be used for years.

 

 

 

Thanks. I'll look for that.

 

[KennethT]

Getting ready to be moved...

[heidih]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

Getting ready to be moved...

You have explained this to the kids? They are mentally prepared?  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/23/the-intelligent-plant

[KennethT]

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

You have explained this to the kids? They are mentally prepared?  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/23/the-intelligent-plant

They've been looking forward to it...

[Franci]

Hi guys, 

 

I have been very quite lately but I am here. I want to show you how they came out our raised beds. 
 

For this season we planted beans, cucumbers, bai tsai (bok  choy), Asian eggplants, peppers, some salads. Rocket, I cannot bring myself saying arugula (as it makes me feel and illiterate Italian) is not doing well. 
 

But all the cucumbers are gone! Thanks to the iguanas 😟 I need to find some protection. I was thinking in tomatoes cages and some netting on top. This garden is going to end up very expensive 😫but we knew about it. Suggestions are welcome

Edited April 5, 2021 by Franci (log)

[heidih]

I think your Iggy Battle will be constant. Rocket is a weed - do not treat it too well. Does your local garden center have ideas on netting to repel the green goobers? 

[Franci]

51 minutes ago, heidih said:

I think your Iggy Battle will be constant. Rocket is a weed - do not treat it too well. Does your local garden center have ideas on netting to repel the green goobers? 

Rocket was not a problem is Brooklyn but here, I don’t know. It’s not working. I asked the neighbors about iguanas, I think they all got discouraged 😕

[rotuts]

@Franci 

 

Id go back to your neighbors

 

ask them what they have grown 

 

and successfully harvested.

 

Iguana's might be tasty 

 

lightly roasted , w a bit of smoke.

[dcarch]

1 hour ago, Franci said:

but we new about it. Suggestions are welcome

 

Are you in Florida? ( iguana ? Not in Brooklyn.)

 

First, beautiful work!!!

 

Second, my suggestion:

Those are very tall raised beds. How much rain do you get in your area? It depends on the percolation quality of the earth the raised beds are on. If the percolation is not much, the raised beds can become bathtubs and your plants can get root rot.

I would drill small weep holes in between the blocks on the bottom run of the blocks and put a bucket of gravel around the holes before you pile soil on top. You put small drain hole even for small flower puts to avoid root rot.

 

Lets see some green stuff in those beds. :-)

 

dcarch

Edited April 5, 2021 by dcarch (log)

[dcarch]

3 hours ago, KennethT said:

Getting ready to be moved...

 

Why are you moving those plants to your new place?

Very soon, you are allowed to grow six(?) plants for private recreational or medicinal use. 

 

dcarch 

[Franci]

40 minutes ago, dcarch said:

 

Are you in Florida? ( iguana ? Not in Brooklyn.)

 

First, beautiful work!!!

 

Second, my suggestion:

Those are very tall raised beds. How much rain do you get in your area? It depends on the percolation quality of the earth the raised beds are on. If the percolation is not much, the raised beds can become bathtubs and your plants can get root rot.

I would drill small weep holes in between the blocks on the bottom run of the blocks and put a bucket of gravel around the holes before you pile soil on top. You put small drain hole even for small flower puts to avoid root rot.

 

Lets see some green stuff in those beds. 🙂

 

dcarch

Yes, I am on an island in front of Miami, iguanas are all over here. The raised beds are very tall. We got the soil from a very nice coop and the head gardener gave us some advice, there is  perlite until half of the beds and very good organic soil on top. @rotutsthe neighbor just complained about the iguanas eating it all! Roasted iguanas not sure are going to enter the menu soon 🤣

Edited April 5, 2021 by Franci (log)

[Franci]

Also pictures on top were from a couple weeks ago, now that how the beans look and the rocket is just drying out 

[heidih]

Iguana quite popular in Mexico - in the pot.  "Good soil" can dry out like heck. Personally I'd put some in a pot and less great soil and more shade to see behavior. Gives you control. Gardening is a learning experience. 

 

S: I was talking bout rocket

Edited April 5, 2021 by heidih (log)

[TicTac]

I would get some chicken wire and build a cage - top of the fence, frame it - and make wide swinging doors to open and access the produce.

 

Otherwise will be tough to allow for growth and gain access.

 

As @dcarch mentioned, I too would drill some holes to allow for drainage.  Rot/mold might become an issue otherwise.

 

 

[gfweb]

13 hours ago, TicTac said:

I would get some chicken wire and build a cage - top of the fence, frame it - and make wide swinging doors to open and access the produce.

 

Otherwise will be tough to allow for growth and gain access.

 

As @dcarch mentioned, I too would drill some holes to allow for drainage.  Rot/mold might become an issue otherwise.

 

 

 

Yes. Fence them out. If not from the whole yard at least from the garden

[TicTac]

 

Peppers popping - Aurora, padron, Aleppo , Serrano, basque, Rosso Italian red, poblano and Pueblo 

 

tomatoes will be started this week 

[rotuts]

however , there is something 

 

un-appetizing w a Chicken Wire Garden

 

"" Gulag or Stalag like ""

 

there is plastic mesh netting , its a little more

 

attractive   I think it comes in green , I uses to use black

 

excellent keeper-outer for birds.

 

Iguanas ?   might chew right through it.

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

...a Chicken Wire Garden...

...Iguanas ?   might chew right through it.

I think chicken wire may have too large of openings to protect the garden from iguanas. Some could easily slip through.

Which is why I think the netting/mesh would be a better option to protect the plants.

[dcarch]

3/4" x 3/4", 1" x 1",  hardware cloth (galvanized or stainless steel or black vinyl coated steel ) is available. Nothing can get through except insects.

 

dcarch

[Franci]

Thanks guys, I will look for the hardware cloth. @dcarchyou would drill holes at the base of the blocs even if there is plenty of perlite at .the bottom? 🙏
 

[TdeV]

I would make sure that water can flow OUT of the planters.

[dcarch]

15 minutes ago, Franci said:

Thanks guys, I will look for the hardware cloth. @dcarchyou would drill holes at the base of the blocs even if there is plenty of perlite at .the bottom? 🙏
 

 

Perlite does not get rid of water. Drilling weep holes at the bottom of retaining walls (in your case, the way the cement block raised bed walls are constructed is the same as retaining walls)  is a standard practice. Drilling holes in the mortar is not a lot of work. You do get a lot of rain in Florida.

 

Also time to think of a finish, if you don't like the look of irregular moss growing on the blocks.

 

dcarch

[AlaMoi]

what dcarch said . . . perlite allows water to drain through freely - but....the water has to have somewhere to go/drain/escape or indeed, it's a bathtub....  I use perlite in shallow trays to root clippings - stays damp,  allows air to encourage rooting / etc.  it does not in any way "make water go away"

 

btw, 3/4 x 3/4 mesh will not slow down mice/voles/shrews....they'll slip right through until they've gotten so fat on your crops they can't....  "critter proof" is 1/4 x 1/4 mesh - netting/anything plastic - may be futile - critters with small/medium/large teeth can/will chew a hole right though it.

[heidih]

4 hours ago, Toliver said:

I think chicken wire may have too large of openings to protect the garden from iguanas. Some could easily slip through.

Which is why I think the netting/mesh would be a better option to protect the plants.

Right. Chicken wire is kinda wimpy. Aviary wire is sturdy. Black coated is visually not odd - no glare. I do not recall if it came black or if we sprayed it.